Everyone wants to have a bright and radiating skin. But blemishes and skin abnormalities are common and can occur due to lifestyle, diet or hormonal imbalances. Moles and warts are typical skin issues. But how do you tell them apart?

Moles   What are they?

Hardly ever causing pain, they appear in many different colours and can be bumpy or flat. Most often of red, brown or black colour, they occur as a result of skin pigmentation called melanocytes. They can be caused due to direct exposure to sunlight or due to genetic factors as well. They can appear in any part of the body and form slowly, taking a long time to grow.

Warts   What are they?

Small bumps or rough growth on the skin that appear in hands, legs, fingers, soles of the feet, face or in the genital area manifest as warts. They are white or pale. They occur as a result of harmful virus infection of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and hence, can be contagious. As opposed to moles, warts need to be removed quickly since a virus causes them.

How do you differentiate a mole from a wart?
Below are some common characteristics of each that can help you identify the skin problem:

Moles

Either flat or elevated from the skin, they are commonly referred to as beauty marks or birth marks.
At times, they have hair growing from them.
Usually, they have one colour   mostly on the darker side.
It cannot be transmitted between people.
They are generated by a collection of pigment cells in the body and darken during hormonal changes.
They tend to become cancerous and lead to melanoma.
Warts

They are harmless, yet contagious.
They have small black or dark dots in the centre that are tiny blood vessels, which provide them with nutrients.
They grow outwards on the skin with a scaly or bumpy deposit.
They can grow anywhere on the body, but are commonly found in feet, hands or fingers.
How to treat warts and moles?

The good news is that both warts and moles do not pose a grave risk to your health, but they are annoying and can turn dangerous in the long run. Especially with warts, you can give it to someone or acquire from someone, since it is a type of virus infection. So, seek medical assistance if you want them to be removed from your skin.

Be aware of the difference between warts and moles to know what you are dealing with. Consult a dermatologist to decide the right steps to remove it or not.

Warts vs. Moles - All You Need To Know!

During summer you try to take special care about the overall health of your body, particularly, your eyes. Eyes are one of the most important organs of the body, and the scorching summer heat can cause serious eye problems like conjunctivitis, infections, red eye, migraines etc., which is why it's important to take proper care of eyes during the summer season.

Here are some tips to keep your eyes cool and protected during the summer:

- Wearing sunglasses is very important when you are outdoors as it protects your eyes from the harmful UVA and UVB light. This will help in avoiding migraines and even serious conditions like cataract.
- Avoid midday sunshine. Stay indoors as much as possible during the middle of the day to avoid the sunshine then when the effect of the sun and ultraviolet radiation exposure are at their peak.
- When you plan to go for a swim, make sure you wear your swimming goggles. Otherwise you might catch conjunctivitis.
- You should not splash water into the eyes directly unless any foreign particles such as dust enter your eyes. This might damage the tear film of the eye, which protects your eyes.
- You need to maintain proper hygiene by washing your hands and face properly as soon as you reach home so that dust or grime does not enter the eyes as their entry can result in allergies and infections.
- You can keep a slice of cucumber on each of your eyes to relax and cool them down.
- 6 to 8 hours of sleep are a must as they help in revitalizing your eyes.
- Adding green vegetables, carrots, nuts, liver and fruits to your diet would be very beneficial for the health of your eyes.



8 Tips to Keep Your Eyes Cool in Summers

4 tips for a great eyesight

An important organ of the body, eyes must never be taken for granted and need to be protected at all times. In addition to protecting them, you also need to improve as well as maintain their overall health.

Here are some of the ways of keeping your vision in top form:

1. Eat for good eye vision

To have healthy eyes and consequently good vision, you need to have foods that keep them in good health. Nutrients like Zinc, vitamins C and E, and Omega-3 Fatty Acids can help to fend off age-related sight problems such as cataracts or macular degeneration (a condition characterized by the deterioration of the middle portion of the retina). Foods like eggs, nuts, green leafy vegetables, oranges and citrus fruits are what you need to have to get good eye health. 

2. Kick the Smoke habit

Smoking can adversely affect your eye health and can make you prone to eye conditions like cataracts, macular degeneration and damage of optic nerve (a nerve that transmits impulses from the eyes to the brain). By kicking this habit, you end up saving your eyes from irreversible damage.

3. Use sunglasses

Exposure to the Sun's ultraviolet rays for a long period of time can make you prone to common eye problems including cataracts. To protect them from the Sun's harmful rays, you need to use sunglasses that block 99-100% of Ultraviolet A (UVA) and Ultraviolet B (UVB) rays.

4. Go for a regular eye checkup

Going for regular eye examinations can help in protecting your vision and ensure you see clearly. Eye examinations are important to help you find eye problems like glaucoma (a condition wherein the optic nerve is damaged, resulting in vision loss). A comprehensive eye examination can help in identifying problems like nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism (an eye defect that occurs to a deviated spherical curvature).




4 Tips for a Great Eyesight

Most of us take our eyes for granted. It has been often noticed that an individual splurges on expensive sunglasses for looking smarter. But, when it comes to the health of eyes, he or she is either ignorant or simply reluctant to do anything. This tendency is bad for the health of your precious eyes.

Remember, how you use them to stare at the screens of your gadgets all day long. Take out some time from your busy schedule and take care of your eyes. They are precious and vulnerable too.

Follow the tips below to keep your eyesight intact till your dying day:

Eat right for a good vision: It is very important to provide the right and sufficient amounts of nutrients to your body for developing or maintaining a good eye sight. Include nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zinc, and vitamins C and E in your regular diet to boost your eyesight. Food items like green and leafy vegetables, salmon, tuna, and other oily fish, eggs, nuts, beans, and other non-meat protein sources, oranges and other citrus fruits or juices and oysters and pork are excellent for the eye. The intake of a balanced diet keeps you away from diabetes, which causes blindness.
Give up smoking: Cigarettes or other tobacco products are bad for your eyes. They make your eyes more vulnerable to diseases like cataracts, optic nerve damage, and macular degeneration.
Guard your eyes from sunlight: It has been found that long exposure to sunlight leads to damage of the eyeballs. This happens as the UV rays in sunlight have an adverse impact on our eyes. You must put on sunglasses when you are outdoors for a longer period. You must choose sunglasses which give you 90 to 100 percent protection against sunlight. UV rays can cause cataracts and macular degeneration.
Avoid the screen: It is advisable to not spend long hours sitting in front of the computer screen or TV. Take breaks while working on the computer. Also, remember blinking your eyes while staring at the screen to avoid drying up of the eyes. Blinking increases tear production, keeping the eyes moist and healthy.
Use safety devices: If you work with hazardous substances, it is advisable that you put on safety devices on your eyes for their protection.
Hydrate your eyes: In order to have a good vision, you must hydrate your eyes by splashing water on your eyes wide open at specific intervals in a day. When you wash your face after returning from outside, don't forget to wash your eyes as well. As you splash water on the eyes, the dust particles on the surface of the eyelid, gathered from outside, gets washed away. f you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a ophthalmologist.

Tips for Improved Eye Health

What causes warts? Can we prevent it?

Warts are small formations that occur on the skin. They appear in the form of dark protruding bumps or brown flat lesion on the skin surface. Sometimes they might also have tiny black specks on them. Warts usually form on the hands, feet, face and genitals, although they may appear on other parts of the body in some cases.

What causes the formation of warts?

Common warts are caused due to infection of the outermost layer of skin that occurs as a result of viral contamination. The virus that is responsible for this condition belongs to the human papillomavirus (HPV) family.

This infection is highly contagious and easily spreads from one person to the next. It is most likely to occur on skin that is cut or damaged as that allows easy access for the virus to enter the skin system.

How to prevent the formation of warts?

Common warts are contagious and spread very easily. Preventing the spread of the HPV virus can be done through simple steps that will help you avoid getting affected by this condition.

Some of the preventive measures that can be adopted are as follows:

- picking and scratching on warts should be avoided

- avoid biting fingernails as gnawing on the skin around the nails makes it more prone to infection

- grooming, brushing and shaving around infected areas should be done with care

- moisture and dampness should be avoided as the virus thrives on it

Do not self-medicate with lime (chuna), garlic, onion or Dettol.

Treatment

Wart removal should be done by a qualified dermatologist. It is simple, safe opd procedure which takes few minutes only and does not leave any scars.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'consult'.
Related Tip: 6 Effective Ways to Get Rid of Warts - Cauliflower-like Skin Inflammation

What Causes WARTs? Can We Prevent it?

6 effective ways to get rid of warts

Warts are small, rough patches on the skin (resembling cauliflowers) that are caused due to the human papillomavirus (hpv- a dna virus that can infect humans). In this condition, only the topmost layer of your skin gets infected and acquires a rough texture. Warts are not fatal (they do not cause cancer), but they are contagious in nature and do not vanish easily. 

Read on to find the most effective ways to get rid of warts. 

1. Over-the-counter wart removers
Over-the-counter wart treatments containing salicylic acid (a type of fungicide) as an active ingredient are commonly used for effective removal of warts. These medications generally eliminate warts by removing the topmost layer of the skin, following the peel-off process.

2. Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy, also known as freezing therapy, is generally performed by a dermatologist and consists of the use of liquid nitrogen for freezing the warts. The application of the chemical results in the formation of a blister around the warts, which shed off after about a week. It takes almost 3 to 4 weeks to have completely wart-free skin. This method proves to be more effective when used with salicylic acid-based wart removers.

3. Laser treatment
Another form of wart removal is pulsed-dye laser treatment. An ablative co2 laser acts by cutting and burning the wart. In this type of treatment the affected blood vessels are burnt, leading to the death of the infected tissue, following which the wart too disappears. However, this method is not commonly used if other treatment methods tend to work as it is painful and may leave behind scars.

4. Vaccine
Sometimes your dermatologist may recommend the use of human papillomavirus (hpv) vaccine to successfully eliminate warts.

5. Bleomycin
In this type of treatment each wart is injected with a shot of bleomycin, a medicine that fights cancer. However, this treatment is not preferred generally as it may be painful and comes with side effects like nail loss if the wart is present on the finger.

6. Immune therapy
When warts refuse to vanish after the use of all common treatments, this method is put into use. This type of treatment involves the use of medications or solutions, which strengthens your immune system so that it can repel warts. In this case your warts may be injected with an antigen or a solution or cream may be applied on them. 

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on'consult.

6 Effective Ways to Get Rid of Warts - Cauliflower-like Skin Inflammation

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